Free to Remember
by Nix1978
Summary: Morgan/Prentiss friendship story. An event leads Derek& Emily to talks about their pasts... just a little bit


**Thanks as always goes to Sara Nublas for supplying the prompts for this and Beta'ing. I will give the prompts at the end of the story. Hope you enjoy**

Morgan threw his bag over his shoulder as they walked towards the canteen on the third floor of Quantico.

"I guess I'm buying the coffee today then."

"Yep. _You_ said loser buys coffee, Morgan." Emily replied smugly.

"Well, I thought I'd let you win today. That's what… two – one now?"

She slapped his arm, "Let me win…..?" She scoffed, "…. I've never seen you sulk so bad as when my last shot hit the bull's-eye."

Morgan chuckled as he set his bag on the floor, "Ok, sit tight. I'll be back in a minute… You want anything to eat?"

"No, I'm good thanks." Emily sat down and opened the morning paper that had been left on the table.

She laughed to herself as she flicked through the pages thinking of Morgan's competitiveness. It was their third weekend of training and he certainly stayed true to his word. He _was_ putting her through the wringer. A five mile run before every session on the shooting range and then an hour of take downs….. But it felt good. She felt alive and healthy again. Those weeks lay in a hospital bed and the subsequent months of recovery had left her strength and fitness a fraction of its former self. She was getting back to what she was and most importantly, she and Morgan were back on track.

"Here you go…." Morgan said placing the cup of steaming coffee in front of her along with a slab of apple pie and ice cream.

"I told you I didn't want anything to eat." She said looking at him unimpressed.

He leaned in across the table, eyebrows raised, "I know, but you need to keep your energy up with all this training, Emily." His teacher like tone not lost on her.

She looked at him with a smirk, then down at the extra large portion and then back up to him with a glint of suspicion.

"Hang on. Apple pie is your favourite. Where's yours?"

"Well, if I'm right and you're true to form, you'll eat half and leave the rest, so I thought I'd just wait for you to finish. Gotta watch my waist line." He grinned.

She tucked into the deep filled pie and once she'd had enough she pushed the plate towards Morgan without saying a word, ignoring his 'I told you so' look.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, glancing down at the newspaper as she set her spoon on the table.

"What's up?" Morgan asked, seeing Emily's attention being drawn to something on the open page.

"Oh…. Nothing." She replied looking up and smiling at him trying to hide the caught out look on her face.

His eyebrows dipped in disbelief as she quickly closed the paper, "Ok…"

Hearing the suspicion in his voice, she thought best to change the subject,

"So you up to anything tonight Morgan?"

"No…" He said taking the last mouthful of pie, "…. Why?"

"Come to my place at eight and bring something warm to wear."

"Something warm? What for?"

Emily stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder, "Just be there at eight. See you later."

"But…." He had no chance to finish his sentence and could only watch her walk away.

~~XX~~

As Morgan walked past Emily into her apartment, he was greeted by a black feline rubbing himself against his leg.

"Hey Serg." He said crouching down rubbing the underside of the cat's chin.

"He likes you." Emily noticed with a slight tone of surprise.

"Well, we've already met haven't we buddy?"

"Eh?"

She looked confused.

He looked upward at her and arched his eyebrows, "When you were…. _Away_?"

"Oh right, when he was with Garcia."

"Yeah, she had me take him to the vet."  
>She moved a step forward with concern, "The vet? What was wrong with him?"<p>

"Nothing. She just wanted me to get him checked out….."

He stood up so he was facing her, "….. Think he just missed his mom."

She smiled at him and stared for a few seconds until he became distracted looking around her apartment and then returned to her with a quizzical look on his face.

"What?" She questioned.

"So…. Why am I standing overheating in this roasting hot apartment with my warmest jacket on?"

"We're going out somewhere."  
>"Where?"<p>

"You'll see when we get there."

She grabbed her coat, car keys and a bag off the kitchen counter and walked to her front door, looking back as she did.

"Come on then." She instructed as Morgan seemed routed to the spot.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"No…. Come on."

~~XX~~

"Emily, we've been driving for half an hour now. Can you just tell me where we're going?"

She glanced over.

"We're going to Fountainhead."

"Where?"

"It's a park."

"Yes I know it's a park, but why are you taking me to a park at night time?"

"Do you know what's happening tonight?"

"Emily, you're talking in riddles." He said impatiently.

She let a small nervous laugh escape her mouth, "There's a lunar eclipse tonight."

Morgan stared hard at her, wide eyed, his silence causing her to glance at him quickly.

After a few seconds she had to break the silence, "Morgan?"

"You remembered?" He asked, his voice trailing off at the end.

"Yeah, I remembered. I thought about doing this a long time ago, but obviously had to wait for the right time."

She waited a few seconds but still no response from him.

"Have I done the wrong thing?" She asked concerned.

His head shot round to look at her, "No, not at all…. I just…. I guess I'm just surprised, that's all."

"Well that's the idea of a surprise…. To make you surprised."

Morgan attempted a laugh, but failed, feeling suddenly immobile.

Emily felt a wave of nerves spill through her chest. Although he said she hadn't, she couldn't help but think she had done the wrong thing.

The final ten minutes of the journey were spent in silence. Morgan could suddenly hear his own heart beat as his body began to heat up. He thought back to that brief conversation…. It was probably nearly a year ago. It was only a two minute conversation… a slight mention. But it brought them here…

~~XX~~

"_So what are you doing tonight that's so important you can't come with us for a burger, Reid?" Emily quizzed the young Doctor._

"_I don't have to tell you guys every last detail of my life, you know."_

"_What? Is it a hot date?" Emily laughed, winking at him._

"_You're kidding right? Reid has dates as often as a solar eclipse." Morgan butted in._

"_Yeah, but there's no full moon tonight.." Emily giggled, continuing the teasing._

_Reid shook his head with a petulant smirk, "Well that would be funny if you guys you could get your facts right."_

"_What you talking about kid?"_

"_To begin with, a solar eclipse can occur only with a new moon, whereas a lunar eclipse requires the Sun, Earth and Moon to be aligned, hence you need a night with full moon . It's all very interesting really….. A__ lunar eclipse can last for __a few hours, instead__ the maximum time __ever recorded__ of a solar eclipse is seven minutes forty seconds. A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and a lunar eclipse…." _

_Reid was suddenly cut off by Morgan. "….Occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon….." _

_Both the Doctor and brunette Agent turned to look at Morgan with surprise._

"_What…..?" His tone defensive, "….. My father took me to see one once. I know stuff too."_

_Emily smiled at Morgan, but he saw her smile soon fade and he knew she'd seen a glimmer of sadness appear on his face at the mention of his father. It lasted all of a split second, but he knew she had seen it…._

~~XX~~

And that was all it had taken for them to end up here.

He was brought back to reality as he heard her voice, "Morgan?"

"Yeah… sorry."

"We're here, but we can turn back if you want?" Her voice had suddenly turned nervous.

"No. It's fine….." He turned to face her, "….I want to stay."

He watched the relief spread across her features… She gave a quick smile before turning and getting out of the car.

After a trek lasting about twenty minutes, they were eventually sat on the grass half way up one of the hills in the park. All that could be seen were more hills, trees and nature. Not a sign of another human life at all.

"So, how'd you know about this place?" Morgan asked, watching her rummage around in the bag she had brought with her.

"I used to run in this park."

"Used to?"

"Yeah. The only running I've done since being back is with you. I used to come here before…"

Her voice trailed off. As much as they were back on track as friends and partners, talking about the detail of last few months was still a hurdle they had yet to make over. They both knew they were not quite ready….

She looked away from him, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them as if protecting herself from something. She picked a punnet of strawberries out of the small feast she had brought with her and offered him one.

"So tell me about it." She said gently.

Taking one of the biggest, he looked at her tentatively, "Tell you about what?"

"The night with your father."

She didn't take her eyes off him. He sat frozen, the fruit in his hand held out in front of him. But she didn't say anything, just gave him time to process his thoughts.

The chill at the ends of his fingers and nose, from the crisp air, began to subside as he felt his heart start to race. He'd never spoken to anyone about that night.

As his fists clenched, he considered getting up and walking away. He considered telling her no, feeling the pressure on his chest increase. But something stopped him. Something made him want to remember. He wasn't sure if being surrounded by nothing but the night sky and peace and quiet somehow made him feel safer. Like talking here wasn't reality….. So he just begun

"I was playing basketball in my front yard when dad got home from duty… still in his uniform. We sunk a couple of hoops and he told me to go get some dinner and then get ready to go out. He said he was taking me and my sisters to see something special…."

She watched him swallow hard and then take a deep breath.

"I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay and hang with my friends, but he told me he needed me to help him with my sisters…"

He gave a small reminiscing smile, "They were both a handful…. I know he didn't really need my help, but at the time he made me feel all grown up. He was amazing with them. They had him wrapped round their little fingers, but they idolised him."

"Sarah teased me all the way in the car saying I had a girlfriend at school… Lucy Nelson. She was in the grade below me….. Dark red hair in pigtails."

"That doesn't surprise me… " Emily lightly laughed, "…. I expected Derek Morgan to start young."

He chuckled, "Nah… not that young…. When we got out the car I jabbed Sarah in the arm and told her I hated girls. My father took me to one side.

Emily watched Morgan close his eyes and she knew he was right back with his father in that conversation;

"_Son, no matter what a girl does, you never ever lay a finger on her. Do you hear?"_

_As Morgan nodded, his father rested a hand on his son's shoulder _

"_Your sisters look up to you."_

"_No they don't." Morgan said with a scrunched nose._

"_Yes they do. They love you because you're a good boy and you're good to them…. most of the time…."_

_The father and son shared a little laugh._

"_You have to look out for them. One day you'll be the man of the house and I'm counting on you to look after them and your mother."_

_Morgan gripped his father's wrist, "You can count on me dad."_

"_I know son, I know…. Now go get the basket from the car…."_

As he opened his eyes, Morgan just about felt his father's hand ruffling his hair before he ran to the car.

Emily's breath caught in her throat a little as she watched the man next to her and imagined him as a ten year old boy with such a burden to bear. There's no way his father could have know when he said those words that he would be counting on his son so soon.

She was about to say something, but stopped as she saw him about to continue;

"When it started to get really dark Desiree got scared. She was only four. She slipped her hand in to mine and squeezed real hard, so I picked her up. Next thing I knew, my father was stood behind us and he put his arms around all three of us and whispered to me how proud of me he was…."

Morgan shook his head, "…. I'll never forget that. You have no idea how grateful I am he made me go. That's my last memory of him before…"

Emily remained silent as Morgan's words broke away. She imagined it had been a long time since he talked about this, if ever, and she wasn't about to push him further now.

With his thumb and forefinger, Morgan rubbed his eyes and she wondered if he was trying rub away the mental images of his father lying dying on the floor that were probably now in his head.

She placed the palm of her hand tentatively on his back.

"It's ok…" she whispered, "You don't have to go on…. I'm sorry I reminded you of…."  
>She wasn't sure what to call it, so stopped.<p>

He turned to face her. She could see the moisture in his eyes, but he was too strong to let if fall.

He smiled, "No it's fine. I'm glad you bought me here. It made me remember the good times. I don't think about those enough."  
>She gently ran the palm of her hand up and down his spine a couple of times, before wrapping her arm back round her own knees.<p>

After staring into the star cluttered night sky in silence for a minute or so, Morgan cleared his throat, and then started again softly,

"So… what about your father? You never talk about him."

He watched her take a deep breath and then shrug her shoulders,

"Nothing to tell really. I barely knew him."

"But your parents didn't split up when you were a kid did they?"

"No, but my father was married to his job." She said as a matter of fact.  
>"You must have some good memories of him."<p>

As she paused in thought he realised that the thought that she could have no happy memories of her father to hand was a completely alien concept to him. He knew they came from different worlds, but not ones so enormously far apart.

When she did start talking he could barely hear her, she was so quiet,

"Whenever he took me and my mother to his grand functions he'd show me off like a little doll. He'd tell everyone how smart I was. How pretty I was. How proud of me he was. He used to make me feel like I was on the tallest pedestal. The best daughter anyone could wish for."

A little smile spilled from her lips.

"Well, see. There you go."

"I guess."

And there was that shrug of the shoulders again.

"Do you not think he meant it?"

"Yeah I do, but it wasn't until I was older I realised he only said those things in front of other people. I can't remember him ever doing that when we were alone. I can hardly remember ever being on our own or doing anything fun."

"That's….." He wanted to say sad, but that would probably make her feel worse, "I'm sure he meant those things he said Emily. Some people just aren't good with stuff like that. There's no bible on how to be a good parent."

"I know and I don't like to sound ungrateful, Derek. I had a privileged childhood. I travelled the world, had a good education. I've never struggled for money. That's why I don't talk about it. I'd sound like a spoiled brat."

"Hey…." He said putting one arm around her shoulder. "You sound nothing of the kind. Yeah money helps, but family is way more important than that stuff."

"Yeah, it is." She sighed.

"You will have that one day." He uttered in his deep, soft tone, pulling her in a little tighter to him.

"Doubt it."

"You will have it Emily if _you_ let it happen."

The irony of it was, that despite their histories being so tremendously different, both paths had lead them to be in exactly the same place.

She turned and smiled at him, "You have a wonderful family. They adore you."

He nodded his head slowly, "Yeah, I'm a lucky guy…. They ask about you sometimes you know?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, Desiree asks if I've hooked up with the pretty brunette yet."

He grinned, nudging her with his hip and watched the genuine smile creep across her face. That smile that he had missed so much while she was … _away_.

"Look." She uttered, nodding with her head towards the skyline in front of them.

He removed his gaze from her and watched the moon begin to blacken. She had picked the perfect spot. There was barely any glow from the city lights on the horizon and as the moon had almost completely vanished, all that could be seen were a million stars in the black sky.

But what happened next was what took Morgan back again to that night with his father and sisters. The moon became whole again, but now deep deep red in colour. It was just as he remembered it that night.

He remembered the feel of his father's big arm around him and Desiree's little arms around his neck, holding onto him as though her life depended upon it. He remembered his father telling him one day he would do this with his own children as he had done with Morgan's grandfather. He didn't know if that would ever happen for him, but he was glad that he got to see this sight again and right now couldn't be more thankful than it being with Emily. That could only have been a pipe dream just a few weeks ago.

~~XX~~

The journey home was quiet as both Agents were exhausted from the day. Morgan was just nodding off from the motion of the car when he suddenly leant forward catching the lights in the distance, "Emily, stop at that gas station."

"What for?"

"I need milk."  
>"Milk?"<p>

"Yes. I need it for the morning. Just stop."

As she waited for him to return, Emily leant her head back against the head rest, contemplating the four hours of sleep she was going to manage, if she was lucky, before having to get up for work.

She jumped in her seat as her door flung open.

"Morgan? What….?"

He crouched down at the side of her and she frowned questioningly, seeing his hand behind his back.

"What are you doing?"

"Here…." He said, producing a bunch of yellow daffodils.

She laughed, "What …..?"

"Ok, I know they're crappy gas station flowers and I had to buy three bunches because they were so small, but I will buy you a proper bunch…."

"But what are they for?"

"Just to say thank you. I had a great night." He leant in and lightly kissed her on the forehead.

"Right…." He said, standing back up, "….. Home driver."

**Ok. Hope you enjoyed…. The prompts were a Lunar Eclipse, a petrol station, flowers and strawberries**


End file.
